


October Tenth

by ShiroiNoKiba



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Canon, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort/Angst, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Lactation Kink, May be sensitive for some readers, NSFW, Porn With Plot, Pregnant Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-03-03 01:52:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13330971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiroiNoKiba/pseuds/ShiroiNoKiba
Summary: After a long day, Naruto comes home to a surprise for his birthday."Do you like it?" she asked, covering her mouth with one hand. The other held her belly, like she wished it wasn't there and was trying to hide it. "I bought this months ago but I was never brave enough to wear it, and now it doesn't fit me so well...""Are you kidding? I might die if you don't come over here."





	1. Chapter 1

"Lord Seventh, let's call it a day," Shikamaru's voice was dripping with exhaustion and when I looked up, his red eyes paralleled the tone in his voice. "We got a good head start, and we can pick this up tomorrow."

I looked around us, taking in the desk littered with paper and pictures and scraps with scribbled notes in messy handwriting on them. Books were sprawled open, scrolls unrolled all over the floor around us. We had been hunched over these things for hours, trying to re-update our archives and listings of all the mission reports filed from the last few years to try and find patterns and possibilities of echoing techniques and methods that we could use as staples of success. We wanted to pass these on to the incoming generations in the Academy. We wanted to change and improve our teachings to bring up generations that were even better and stronger, and to do that we needed to find all the ways previous missions had been successful for unconventional reasons, condense them, and pass on the improvements to the Academy sensei.

At least that's what Shikamaru told me we needed to do. In my understanding this was busywork, and now my neck was permanently crooked, my back hunched, and my eyes felt like they had crossed hours ago. "But this is so fun, how could you want to stop?" I snarked, making my old friend laugh despite his weariness. I angled the clock to me. "It's only one in the morning. I could keep going if you can," I said, becoming a little more serious. We did have a lot of work to be done.

Shikamaru shook his head. "I need rest, I can hardly keep my eyes open." As if to emphasize, he yawned loudly. I chuckled, but I could feel the tiredness in my own bones.

"You're right, tomorrow's a new day." We agreed to leave the papers and scrolls and books where they were so we could get right back to it in the morning. I stepped carefully around them, switched off the lights and we made our way outside. The night was crisp, evidence of the oncoming autumn, but it felt good on my face after the warm stuffiness of my office. Shikamaru and I looked up to where my image was being carved in next to my sensei and predecessor. He sighed pleasantly. "It's all so surreal, right?"

"What is?"

"How we were raised in this system and now we get to create the system that we will raise our kids in." I gave a low laugh, thinking about how his son had just recently been born, and how my own son would soon follow. I prayed silently that we would be able to create a suitable and better world for those kids.

"We have to get it right. For the sake of the new generation. And there's no one better to do it but us," I said. Shikamaru gave me a side-long glance, his other eye closed.

"Looks like someone's had a change of heart about that busywork," he chided. I laughed.

"What can I say? You've convinced me!" We laughed together, our voices carrying through the darkness to echo in the empty streets. We grew into a comfortable silence, walking until we reached the bridge. Shikamaru stopped, yawning again.

"Well," he said, wiping the corner of his eye, "I'll see you in the morning, bright and early." He bowed and muttered a formal goodnight as my advisor, then as my friend, he squeezed my shoulder with one hand. "Happy birthday, Naruto." I smiled and scratched the back of my neck. But before I could thank him for remembering, Shikamaru turned with his hands tucked in his pockets and walked away into the night. I watched after him, thinking how even though I had spent the day up to my neck in paperwork, it had actually been a good birthday. I continued walking, whistling to keep myself company, satisfied with the day's progress and happy with how well the staff had adapted to my leadership and how I wanted to run the village, and how hard they worked with me to make everything run smoothly. And even more than that, they made my job easy. I had no reason to be unhappy. Especially, I thought, with my first child on the way. But poor Hinata was always home on her own. She of course assured me that she didn't mind, but I imagined that she would like someone to rub her swollen feet or to comfort her through morning sickness.

I sighed. I really should try and be home earlier, try and be there for her more. She was always there for me, willing to sit up and talk with me about bubbling ideas that kept me up until the sun came through the window. And often, when I came home and she was long asleep, my dinner was still warm and waiting and a bento for the next day was already packed for me. She was more than I deserved, and I told her as much every chance I got, and now she had been carrying our son for the last six months and was still doing all this and more for me. My thought from our childhood came back to me as I rounded the corner of my street; ' _Wow Hinata, you're amazing!'_ And I should do more to show how much I appreciated and loved her.

I was surprised as I came up to the house to see the lights on in the living room and bedroom windows. Was she still awake? I pondered as I turned my key and pushed the door open, peering in to see if I saw my wife. The living room and kitchen were both empty I found as I walked around quietly searching. Could she have left earlier and not come back yet? No way, I thought as I padded towards the bedroom. Suddenly, her voice came from behind the slightly open door.

"Naruto?"

"Honey?" I heard a small gasp.

"Don't come in, I am almost ready!" _Ready?_ I thought.

"Hinata, is everything okay?" I craned my neck, trying to catch a glimpse through the crack. "Ready for what?"

"Everything is fine, just... just wait for me in the living room please! I'll be right out." She sounded a little panicked, but I complied and went to sit on the sofa. I yawned big, my jaw almost separating, and leaned my head back to rest on the cushion. I rubbed my eye with the heel of my hand. "Okay, you can look now darling," came a small voice, and my head snapped back to attention and I blinked a few times to clear out the colors left behind by my rubbing. When I could see, my jaw fell open and my body went hot. In front of me was my wife, but she was also the sexiest and most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. There she stood with nothing but a matching set of silk lingerie, soft and off-white, lace and deliciously too tight for her. Her breasts peeked like two hills from the bra, her bump stretched the panties. Her cheeks were as cherry as the lipstick on her lips. She was all round curves and soft white skin and I could have died when she turned to display the teensy back of her panties. I stuttered and stuttered but I was too turned on and distracted to speak. "Happy birthday my darling," she said in a honey voice.

"Fuck Hinata," I said finally. She giggled--somehow managing to make herself even more seductive--and started to get shy.

"Do you like it?" she asked, covering her mouth with one hand. The other held her belly, like she wished it wasn't there and was trying to hide it. "I bought this months ago but I was never brave enough to wear it, and now it doesn't fit me so well..."

"Are you kidding? I might die if you don't come over here." My pants were uncomfortably tight in the front already. 'Goddamn,' I hissed as she crossed the room, her rounded hips swaying and her pale skin smooth as butter. I stood as she reached me and I took her hands away from where she covered herself. "Don't ever be shy with me, baby," I whispered and held her face in my hands.

Her beautiful shy smile disappeared and she started looking worried. "It just wasn't supposed to be...like this," she turned her eyes away form mine and I knew she was talking about her bump. I hadn't noticed she had grown so self-conscience with her pregnant body. This left a twinge of guilt, among many, in the pit of my stomach. I shook my head firmly.

"Hinata, you are carrying my son--our son!--and that makes you the most incredible person in the world. Because of you, I had the strength to become Hokage, and because of you I get to become a father and that is the greatest gift you could ever give me." I saw her eyes brim with tears.

"Darling..."

"I mean it. You are everything to me and I need to start showing you that more." I wouldn't wait until the baby came to show her that I would be a good father, I promised myself. "This," I continued, putting one hand on her belly to caress her, "this is your child, this is your amazing body, and this is nothing to be shy or ashamed about. Not to mention, you look sexy as hell, baby." She giggled, her smile lighting me up again.

"I'm so glad you like it," she said, her face beaming.

"Show me that ass again," I growled, and she turned around for me. I filled my palm, caressing her skin, running a finger under the string on her hip, then gave her a quick spank. The yelp she let out was followed by a moan from me that slipped out as my pants grew unbearably tight. 'Fuck' I hissed through my teeth. I palmed her again, but she grabbed my wrist.

"Get on the couch," she said in as stern a voice as she could muster. I felt my face heat up, even more turned on at how she was taking control. I swallowed and did as she said. She turned around and, with some effort, straddled my lap. I held on to her hips as she leaned down to kiss me passionately, holding my head in her hands. I moaned, wanting her so bad I could hardly stand it. Her fingers threaded through my hair and she tugged, pulling my head back so she could kiss my neck. I closed my eyes, feeling her wet tongue glide down my pulse and across my collarbone. She opened her mouth and as soon as I felt her teeth graze my skin, I held fast to her hips and pushed mine up into her. I heard her sharp gasp near my ear. Her fingers tightened in my hair almost painfully, but the feeling of her against me sent fire through my veins. She grinded herself a little deeper against me, gyrating her hips.

I put my lips to her ear. "Do you like feeling me, baby?" I whispered in a deep voice, feeling goosebumps rise on her skin as she nodded wordlessly. I remembered the first few times we had been intimate together, Hinata would suddenly lose consciousness if I sexually teased or provoked her too much. Her head would suddenly drop on to my shoulder or her hands would go limp and fall onto the bed, and she had me racing to sprinkle water on her or lightly tapping her cheek until she came to. We laughed about it, but even as we grew closer and I could see her becoming more confident, I could still catch a moment where she would lose her grip on my shoulders or was still for a little too long.

Not this time; not yet at least. Now, her hands worked at removing my jacket and undershirt and feeling my naked chest hungrily. I sat back and took her in--the lipstick staining around her slightly open mouth, her delicious breasts in their silk confines, and the way she twisted her hips to feel my hardening erection through my pants. Her neck rolled to one side, and it was my turn. I pushed her hair aside to leave open-mouthed kisses across her exposed shoulder. When I reached the dip at the base of her throat, I worked slowly downward until I got a mouthful of silk lace. I opened my eyes to find her watching me, as she always did when I teased her breasts. She was never brave enough to tell me why she watched, but I think that she like the way my mouth looked while I sucked and licked and kissed her there. I also made sure to lock my eyes on her, closing them only to give an occasional moan to tempt her more.

"Undo it," she commanded, still watching me, so I reached around her and unclipped, setting her breasts free. I threw the bra onto the pile she had made of my clothes. I took no time to wrap my lips around one of her pink nipples. I felt her shiver as I suckled gently and used my tongue to erect it. Her lavender eyes slid shut and her mouth opened as she trembled with pleasure. "Naruto...please..." she murmured.

"Please?" I said. "Please what, baby?" Hinata only rolled her head back. "You have to tell me." I knew she was shy, but I loved making her voice her desire for me. I stopped my teasing, making her look down at me.  


"Please what?" I asked again. She made a frustrated sound. I had to smile. "Tell me what you want me to do."

She pulled my head back down to her chest. "Please," she breathed, "play more with me here." Her cheeks stained pink with blush, but she looked determined and beautifully brave. I gave another wicked grin. My tongue wet her nipple and I blew lightly on it, and it hardened almost instantly. I grazed sharp teeth on it, making her gasp. Kissing my way to her other breast, I traced feather-light trails with the tip of my nose and dropped occasional kisses all around it. I avoided the nipple this time, but I saw it had grown erect despite its neglect. Hinata shook and panted on my lap but didn't take her eyes off me. I used one hand to fondle her other breast, feeling the weight and warmth of her, and tugging gently on her nipple with my thumb and forefinger. I couldn't resist any more and took her breast into my mouth, but this time I was rougher, sucking harder and nibbling while my hand worked in synch with my mouth. Hinata's moans washed over me; her head was back and her hands were on my knees to steady herself as she pushed her chest up towards me. She rubbed herself down on me so strongly I was afraid I was getting too close to the edge. Not to mention the fact that she moaned my name as she begged me to keep going. 

I drew back for a moment. "You like that, baby?" I groaned, her nipple still in my mouth as I spoke around it. She looked back down at me and nodded. I smiled, then stopped: Something sweet dripped onto my tongue. Surprised, I leaned back, trying to figure out what the taste was. Hinata noticed my confusion. She caught my eye, almost as if to ask what was the matter. But before I could say anything, I saw the answer to my question; a small, off-white droplet formed at the very tip of her nipple before dropping down to make a dark spot on my pants and being replaced by one just like it. Hinata gasped, and I found myself smiling. 'This is going to embarrass her to death.'

"It's so sweet," I said simply, taking the next drop onto the tip of my finger and putting it in my mouth. Hinata's hands clamped over her mouth and she whimpered. 

"Don't...no! God, please Naruto. I'm so embarrassed..!" Tears sprang into her eyes and she shook her head furiously. I took her hands away gently. 

"What did I say earlier?" I asked, my eyes not moving from hers. 

"But...but th-this is different. I didn't know my m-milk was going to..." she sighed, ashamed and unable to finish, and now her tears were making more dark spots on my lap. I tisked.

"How is this different?" I asked earnestly. The next drop formed. I decided not to use words this time; my tongue licked up the drop and I swallowed--she really was incredibly sweet. 

"Mm," I hummed. I shut my eyes and closed my mouth around her, tugging gently, wanting more of her sweetness. I was rewarded quickly, and droplets turned into a trickling. I swallowed, looking up through my eyelashes at her. She was still crying in embarrassment, but her cheeks were flushed. She was enjoying it, watching me suckle on her and swallow her milk. Her fingers tugged on my hair the harder I sucked, and she arched herself into me. I surprised myself in how much I enjoyed it, too. I grew harder still when I thought of exactly what was happening, how lewd and erotic it was. I groaned, pulling her closer, but almost as soon as I started, her flow ebbed and soon stopped. I released her breast and pulled down her chin for a deep kiss. "Taste how sweet you are on my tongue," I hissed, then kissed her again, pushing my tongue into her shy mouth. Her hands were less shy, leaving burning trails up my arms, across my chest and down to the dusting of hair that lead past the waistband of my trousers. I knew what she was going to do next, and I held my breath as I felt those hands trail to my sides--her nails skimmed my skin from my hips up to my ribcage, and I nearly came in my pants at the electricity that went straight to my groin.

Hinata had quickly found out that I had very sensitive spots on my body, and as shy as she was, she loved to watch me contort in uncontrolled pleasure as she trailed her nails or left feather-light kisses in those spots. I lost almost all mobility, overcome with an intense burning ecstasy, gripping sheets with eyes screwed shut and mouth grumbling for mercy. My sides and the down the length of my spine were the most sensitive, and also her favorite places to torment me. And now, as her nails ghosted up and down, she had me panting and moaning, begging for I didn't know what, fingers tearing at the cushion under me as her hands set me on fire and riddled my skin with goosebumps at the same time. My breath caught in my throat when I felt her chakra flow through me to stimulate my chakra points. It suddenly felt like her hands were all over me, edging me closer and closer to the brink. 

"Fuck," I moaned, and she giggled. I felt the pleasure building in the base of my spine, and the tell-tale twitches began. I panted, "Baby, too soon," but she didn't stop. I tried to look at her to beg her to stop with my eyes, but another surge of chakra went through me and made my eyes roll back and my hips thrust forward without my wanting them to. I cursed again.

"Darling, come for me..." I heard her say between my moans. My body curled forward and my breathing was ragged. I rested my head on her shoulder and surrendered, and by the next surge my body came undone. Every one of my veins had fire for blood, my toes curled and the muscles in my thighs quivered. My teeth ground together as I tried to keep down my louder screams. Sweat ran in streams down my back. Needing more friction, I pulled Hinata's hips down onto me hard, thrusting roughly into her, hardly able to hold myself back enough to keep from hurting her. As I rode out my orgasm, I became more aware of the sticky warmth wetting the front of my underwear. 

Gasping, I leaned back on the couch and caught my breath. Hinata watched, her lavender eyes filled with lust. I found myself laughing lazily once I had my breath back, and she joined me. "You vixen," I sighed, "I'll get you for this." Her face reddened some more. Before she could react, I switched our positions so I was standing and she was sitting where I had been with her legs up around my hips. While she was still realizing what had happened, I leaned away and took off the remainder of my clothes and hers. Making sure she saw me, I lifted her panties to my nose and breathed in the smell of her arousal. I heard her sharp gasp. 

"Naruto!" Her neck and chest now matched the color of her cheeks and her hands covered her whole face this time, but I could see that she was peeking at me between her fingers. I gave a bawdy smile, trying to mask the fact that my move had been that of a double-edged sword; I had succeeded in making my wife blush to a decadent shade of red, but I also managed to intoxicate myself with her scent.  It had changed in the last couple of months of her pregnancy, and not just her arousal. I could pick up smells that invited protection, devotion and, most notably, sexual arousal and desire. I knew it was her hormones changing because of the baby, but dammit if it worked. I passed every waking minute wanting to rush back home to her, of course because she was my wife, but also because I felt I needed to be there to protect them. My instinct told me that I should wrap my arms around them and never let them go, but my rationality screamed back to remind me that she was a ruthless fighter that, even pregnant, could give many jounin a run for their money. 

"No, no," I scolded at her covered face, "I see you watching. Don't pretend." Hinata's hands moved to cover only her cheeks. I continued holding her panties under my nose, letting her get an eyeful before discarding them onto the floor. I went to bend forward to kiss her, but she stopped me with one palm on my chest.

"I want to see you," she said, to my surprise. I blinked a few times before straightening back up. I stood quietly as I imagined I could physically feel the heat of her gaze as it passed first from my thighs, lean and strong, to my groin, my torso, chest, and she finally stopped on my eyes. I smiled, feeling so loved in the warmth of her gaze, but instead of smiling back, she said "You're so handsome...and you look so sexy..."

This time, I blushed. "Sexy?" I teased, trying to hide my own shyness with the feigned confidence of a dropped hip and a bandaged hand on my neck. Hinata nodded, her eyes hooded. My hand dropped. The look in those pearl eyes went past desire--she had a yearning, a nostalgia brooding in their depths. 

"Make love to me," she said, holding her arms out. "I need you." I snapped out of my daze and took her face in my hands, leaning in. 

"I love you, Hinata." She put a gentle hand on my cheek. 

"I love you, Naruto." I kissed her, hoping she could feel the passion for her that threatened to blow my chest apart, and she kissed back with equal passion. I burned a trail of licks and nibbles down the middle of her until I reached her deepest parts. I took in her pink folds, the way they glistened with her aroma,and purposefully washed warm breaths over her. She curved her back, a wanting sound coming from above me. Tentatively, I placed a kiss on each of her outer lips and watched as more of her arousal wet her. _She's so responsive,_ I thought while feeling the heat begin to rebuild in my own body. 

I felt fingers thread through my hair. "Please hurry," Hinata begged, and I quickly complied. A kiss on her pelvis lead to a quick lick of her clitoris, then to deep and open-mouthed tongue kisses that dove deep into her. I tilted my head, kissing her as I would her mouth, my tongue brushing the shallows of her inner walls. "Mmm...Naruto...yes..!" Her hands left my hair and I lost track of them, but I continued filling my mouth with her taste and my ears with her unfiltered moans. My right hand rested on her pelvic bone, just under her bump, and I knew the warmth of it would help her reach a stronger and easier orgasm. My left forefinger pressed small circles on her clitoris. Sure enough, her body was pulsing hard around my tongue, and she contorted off the sofa, screaming out her pleasure. I had to pull at my now-aching erection to try and relieve the tightening that had found its way there because of her cries. My kissing lessened as her high subsided to soft moans that dripped with 'I want more'. I stood and wiped my chin where my sweat mingled with her come and swallowed. Hinata's eyes were closed and she rolled her head back and forth in the bliss of her aftershocks. 

"Are you too sensitive?" I asked, cautious of how our previous attempts at intimacy during her gestation had ended with painful tears and my nearly-useless fretting and guilt. But this time, to my great relief--although of course I would have held out for her--she shook her head and mumbled, "I'm okay."

So I turned her hips so her knees were both to one side while simultaneously wetting my erection with my saliva. I aligned myself with her sex. I bit my lip, still tentative, but my lust drove my hips forward. My eyes screwed shut, my teeth drew blood, my lungs burned, my neck went limp; Hinata's body was so small and snug, but my size stretched her until there was no distinction between our bodies. My shallow breaths mimicked hers. My body was lost in her, and once the feeling that I would immediately come passed, I began to move in and out of her. My hands gripped bruisingly tight, one on her ass and the other on her thigh, but it was the only way to keep myself grounded. Feeling her there in my hands, trembling and crying with pleasure, it kept me from losing control. 

I moved slowly, rolling my hips, careful not to push too deeply so as not to hurt her. One of her hands grabbed my bandaged wrist and I opened my eyes to look at her. Her bangs stuck to her forehead with sweat, her mouth was slack and whimpering, and her eyes were locked shut. 'Ahs' and 'Uhns' and 'Mms' were moaned between us with each thrust, sweat dripped and hands held tight to each other. I watched her until my vision went dark and my body threatened to snap. 

"Hinata..." I groaned through a clenched jaw. Her grip tightened on my wrist. 

"Don't stop baby, not yet. I...I'm so close." Her voice was small but charged with the rawness of our sex. I leaned over her, kissing her hard. She wrapped her arms around my neck and held me fast. "Harder baby, please. Do it harder," she begged in my ear, and even though I didn't think I would last much longer, I pushed into her harder. I bit my tongue to try and keep myself together as her moans turned to screams and her body tightened impossibly around me. Her nails bit into my back and her teeth dug into my shoulder. I gasped, the feeling igniting me and I couldn't hold back anymore. I came hard, harder than I had before, and pushed blunt thrusts into her. I wanted to feel more of this fire that she was giving me. I felt her begin to pulse around me again, a distinct fluttering that seemed to beg me to keep coming. She grew limp as she cried out again and again, my name sounding like a prayer on her lips. I kept my pace even though my orgasm had subsided, waiting only until her body's constrictions had stopped before standing straight again. 

Our breath was impossibly hard, each of us gleaming with perspiration. I pulled myself out of her exhausted warmth, sighing at the feeling. Without saying anything, I went to kneel by my wife's head, where it hung facing the rest of the living room. Her eyes were closed, but tears still dripped down her face. I wiped them away with my thumb and she opened her eyes. I smiled into that lovely face, leaning down to kiss her forehead. 

"You're incredible," I whispered, and she smiled. "Come lay with me." She nodded enthusiastically. Her arms stretched out, and I knew she wanted to be carried. I chuckled as I leaned down for her to wrap her arms around my neck; my precious girl was exhausted.

"Tired honey?" I asked into her ear as I scooped her from the couch and walked us to the bedroom. She nodded and hummed a response into my shoulder. I laughed and kissed the top of her head. Pulling back the covers, I laid my wife down on her side and circled around to lie next to her. She was quick to push up against me, snuggling close so her legs tangled with mine, her head rested on my chest, and her belly leaned on mine. My heart swelled as I wrapped my arms around her. We hardly had time to lay like this; a lot of times when I came back from the office too late, I would sleep on the couch so I wouldn't disturb her. It had been happening more frequently lately, and again I mentally kicked myself for not giving her warmth and a place to rest her head. 

"Darling?"

"Mm?"

"I've missed you so much." She held me closer, her voice small and sad.

"I'm here, baby. I'm always here." I pressed another kiss on her hair. "I won't let anything stand between us anymore."

"Hmm..." She was already asleep on my chest, her breathing slow and even, but her fingers still held on to me. _This,_ I thought, _this is where I could stay for the rest of my life._ Right here, my wife peacefully sleeping in my arms, our most precious treasure between us, no thought of anything but us. I smiled to myself in the darkness; and that tiny heartbeat racing inside her. I felt it, and my own heart raced with it, anticipation in meeting our son curling in my chest. I smiled, and drifted into a peaceful and dark sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here! I didn't anticipate such a long wait for this piece, but I finally have its final draft. Thank you so much to those who have viewed my work and left your kudos and comments, that is was drives me and so many other creatives to do the work we do. Thank you for your patience, and I hope this lives up to your expectations! 
> 
>  
> 
> Be on the look out for more works from me, and don't be afraid to leave requests or suggestions for something you'd like to see!

What felt like mere moments later, I awoke to a rustling next to me. Hands pushed a head up and off my chest, and I groaned at the chill of the air. 

"Darling?" A faint voice called through the fog of my sleep. "Please wake up, I think something is wrong."

I was suddenly fully awake at hearing the panic in what I recognized as my wife's voice. I opened my eyes to see a shadow of her frame sitting up beside me in the dark. I rubbed my eyes. "What's the matter honey?" I asked in a voice still thick with sleep.

"I-I don't know. I felt a, a cramp, and I feel something wet on the bed."

"Something on the bed--?" Having pulled back the covers, I could make out a dark splotch between our outstretched legs. _Did her water break?!_ With white fear burning in my lungs, I turned on my bedside lamp, and the splotch became a nightmare. 

Dark red blood soaked the sheets, sharply contrasted against the whiteness. I felt my eyes widen at the sight, and Hinata clamped a hand over her mouth. We both had blood on us, and it made our naked legs sticky. 

"Darling..." her voice was heavy and strangled with tears. Before I could think my body was already in action. I had her in my arms and carried her into the bathroom. I turned on the shower, and while we waited for the water to get warm, I held onto her hand. She squeezed mine, and I looked at her. "I'm scared," she said. Her voice broke, and so did I.

Here was this woman, no doubt the strongest and bravest that I'd ever met, looking so small and fragile. She trembled with uncertainty, and her eyes wouldn't focus. I could tell she wasn't scared for herself; she didn't want anything to happen to the baby. 

I folded her into my arms. "It's going to be alright," I said in as certain a voice as I could manage. "I promise I won't let anything bad happen. I'm here for you, okay?" I felt her nod, though she was sniffling. I held her hand again as she stepped under the running water, and followed her in. I lathered soap between my hands and made quick work of rinsing the blood from my leg before cleaning her up carefully. As I washed her thighs, one of her hands pressed painfully against her side. I stopped.

"Hinata?" I pressed.

"It--it hurts," she said, then gasped sharply in realization. "It's too soon!" she sobbed. I took her hand and begged her to look at me. "I think I'm having contractions."

My blood went cold. _No._

Now, I was in overdrive. I washed the rest of the blood from her skin and shut off the water, sprang out to towel us dry and ran back to the room to tear through the drawers. I picked underwear, one of my teeshirts, and a soft pair of shorts for Hinata, and my orange sweatshirt, undershirt, underwear and pants for myself. I dressed in a blur while Hinata managed her shirt. I kneeled to help her into her underwear and shorts. Despite the warm shower, her hands were already icy on my shoulders as she balanced herself to put one leg at a time through the holes. "That's it, good girl. Go slow," I found myself muttering all the while, trying not to sound as scared as I felt. 

Before I scooped her back into my arms, I draped my sweatshirt around her shoulders. I picked her up and ran for the open window. As softly as I could, I leapt from all-too-familiar rooftops through the balmy night air. Hinata nestled her face into my chest and I could feel her tears wetting my shirt. I held her closer. 

"Ooh," she groaned against me. "Please hurry." I looked down at her, and saw her skin had gone an ashy pale. I pushed myself harder, desperate not to jostle her. 

"Hang on baby," I pleaded. _Please, hang on!_ I could feel her stiffen with the pain of another contraction, then she grew limp. "Hinata?"

She didn't respond. I pushed her forehead back with my cheek so I could see her face. Her eyelids fluttered. "I feel faint," she mouthed. 

"Baby, stay with me, we'll be at the hospital soon. Please, just stay with me!" I made my legs move faster, and faster still when I felt a warm wetness come through her shorts. Not soon enough, I could see the roof of the hospital coming over the horizon and I let myself feel a shred of relief. Hinata was still conscious, moaning weakly. "We're here baby, it's going to be okay." The tears strangled my speech.

I burst through the front doors of the emergency area, scanning the harsh white surroundings for anyone in a uniform. "Lord Hokage?" a voice called from my left, and I turned to face it. Shizune's eyes scanned me up and down, already trying to assess the situation as she rushed towards us. 

"She's bleeding. A lot. And... and contractions. Said she's going to faint," I panted. Without another word, Shizune began to work, pulling a gurney towards us. As I settled Hinata on it as gently as I could, Shizune checked one of her wrists for a pulse. 

"Hm... pulse is slow. She needs oxygen, and we need to find out what's causing that bleeding." By now, other nurses had gathered in the emergency room lobby and began flocking towards the gurney. Shizune addressed them in turn. "You take her to room 1034 and check for vitals, mom and baby. You, help her with that. You, get her on an oxygen bubble for now and hook her up as soon as you can. Who is the O.B. on call tonight?" Her voice was strong and assertive and, even as Hinata was being wheeled away from me by the nurses, I felt slightly better knowing she was being cared for. She turned to me. "Come with me. I'll get you some fresh bandages for that arm." I looked down, noticing for the first time that my bandages were soaked by water from the shower and soiled with blood. 

I followed her down the same hall Hinata had just disappeared down. I was starting to feel the weight of what had just happened settle itself in my gut. I began to tremble visibly as I clumsily tried to replace the bandages. I grew frustrated at my shaking hands, only making them shake worse, and eventually Shizune grabbed the bandages from me. She focused on unwrapping the old bandages then rewinding the clean ones around the ghostly white flesh of my prosthetic. She didn't say anything at first, her hands working and her eyes flitting up to my face once or twice.

"Breathe through your nose, you're almost hyperventilating." 

I gasped. Her eyes were back on her task. I swallowed, and followed her directions. The burning in my lungs began to subside slightly, but my hands still trembled slightly. Shizune spoke again as she wound the white ribbon around my fingers; "Are you prone to panic attacks, Lord Hokage?" I shook my head.

"I've had them before. One or two, I think. But it was a while ago." 

"I see. Let me know if you begin to feel worse. And watch your breathing." Then, as if peeking around her professional demeanor, she took my shoulder like the old familiar I knew her as, and said, "She will be okay. We will take care of her. Of both of them." Her eyes softened as I looked into them. I broke her gaze and nodded. I knew they would be well cared for, but my body still shook and my mind still raced with thoughts that blamed me for everything, the sickening thought that something may happen to my son. My heart was heavy as we kept walking.

We reached room 1034. Hinata had been taken out of her clothes and been put into a hospital gown and she was tucked into a bed. Clear plastic tubes ran under her nose, and two nurses ran an ultrasound wand over her belly and watched the monitor. Another nurse strapped a blood pressure band onto Hinata's arm and pumped it full of air, scribbled down something that she also repeated aloud to her fellow nurses. Amid so much prodding and poking, Hinata looked so small and lost in the fray as she laid with her eye closed. I deflated. It hurt me to see her like that, to know that I caused this pain. I pressed my palm on the glass, wanting so desperately to touch her, to let her know I was there. Shizune turned to me. 

"I'm going to have to ask you to stay out here while we stabilize Lady Hinata and the baby. You will get a chance to speak with her before we take her to the exam room to assess the bleeding. Can I ask you some questions about her general health and pregnancy?"

"Yes."

"How far along is she?"

"Twenty-five weeks." She recorded my answer on her clipboard.

"Any major health concerns, like any allergies to medications, or past illnesses?"

"No."

"Has she complained about any pains recently?"

I took pause. I honestly didn't know. I hadn't been around her enough recently to even ask if anything was bothering her. "I... I don't know." My answer was small, ashamed. Shizune's pen continued across the page.

"Has she had any miscarriages, or trouble getting pregnant?"

_Miscarriage._ My fist closed on the glass. Shizune noticed my hesitation, eyeing me. Just as she asked again, I felt a lump in my throat and I turned away from the question. She sighed, then left me to enter the room. I let out my shaky breath. I would apologize later; I couldn't think about miscarriage right now.

After watching the white bodies flutter and fret around Hinata for some moments longer, I tried gaging their expressions to figure out how good or bad the situation was. They had masks on it seemed, keeping their reactions hidden carefully behind guarded and professional expressions. I couldn't even see a slight twitch of the corner of a mouth here, or a brow drawn together there. Even when Hinata had another contraction. Nothing. 

One nurse came to the door and poked her head out. "How man contractions has she had?" Her voice was sharp, and it brought me back to reality.

"About four, maybe five."

"Did you time them?"

"I think they were about five to seven minutes apart. I can't be totally sure."

"Thank you," she said, and ducked back into the room to her colleagues and passed on the new information. There was another moment of fretting and fluttering, then finally the group came to the door while Shizune stayed by the baby's heart monitor. 

"You may go in now, Lord Hokage." The nurse that spoke held the door open for me. I slid past her into the room, thanking her as I brushed by. I stalked to the bedside, my hands antsy to cradle Hinata's pale face. 

"I'm here baby, I'm right here."

"Naruto..." she whispered, her eyes fluttering open. My thumbs stroked her cheeks. I wanted so badly to take her far away from here, to take away the pain and fear I could see that glazed her eyes. But I couldn't. So I was left making whispered promises I didn't know that I could keep. 

"I'll come back once it's time to take her out to the exam room. Right now, mom and baby are stable, but use the call button if anything changes or if you need something." Shizune made almost no sound as she left. We were alone with the two blipping patterns across two monitors and the whooshing sound of the oxygen flowing through Hinata's breathing tubes. 

"Baby," Hinata whispered. 

"I'm here, Hinata."

"They said the baby might be in distress, and that's why I'm having contractions." My hands stilled on her face. "But they're weaker and further apart, so they said it's nothing to be scared of." I searched the baby's monitor, watching how the little heart beat impossibly fast. That was how my own heart felt in my chest, like butterfly's wings. I still tried to find comfort in the news that the contractions were getting weaker. 

"And what about you?" I asked.

"They said I was faint because of the bleeding, but my blood pressure stabilized once I laid down. Now, they just need to find the source of the bleeding in the exam room." She closed her eyes again, as if she were too weak to keep them open any longer. I sat there and gazed at her, at the bruise-like darkness under her eyes, at how her once-cherry lips were now an ashy grey. 

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. She started to shake her head without opening her eyes, but I continued. "I should have been more gentle with you. I lost my head and now... the baby..."

A cold hand reached for one of mine. She looked at me. "You didn't lose your head, I have the bruises to prove it." She had a weak smile, teasing me. I blushed to think of the nurses dressing her in the hospital gown and seeing the marks of my fingers on her hips. "And your were gentle. Don't put this on yourself." She blinked slowly and lowered her hand again. Just then, a voice came from the door. "We're ready for you in the exam room, Lady Hinata." Two nurses walked in with a wheel chair. I helped Hinata into it and watched as they rolled her away. 

For a whole agonizing hour, I paced back and forth until I was almost sure the tread on my sandals was completely worn down. I tried sitting, but my legs bounced so much my muscles began to ache. So many things were going through my mind that I couldn't keep still. I clung to the things I knew for sure; that Hinata's contractions were subsiding and had been ruled as something to not panic over; that they were going to find the source of her bleeding and stop it; the baby was stable; Hinata was stable. But still, I tread back and forth senselessly, mindlessly, until Shizune finally poked her head back into the room. We worked Hinata carefully back into bed. I was pulling the blankets up to her chin when Shizune addressed me.

"I'm going to start by saying that everything is fine. There is no risk to mom or baby." With just these words, a tightness that had built in my chest decompressed, and I took my first full breath in hours. She continued, "The bleeding turned out to be caused by stress to the cervix, but it stopped on its own. We made sure there were no tears or nicked veins or arteries, and that she hadn't lost too much blood. As for the contractions..."

I eyed her. She seemed unsure, almost embarrassed, about what she had to say next. "Go on," I pressed, anxious to find out the cause.

"Well, it seems to me that sex is the cause of her symptoms, Lord Seventh."

I blanched. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"When you put the symptoms together--a stressed cervix, and fake contractions--"

"Wait, _fake_ contractions? Like--"

"Braxton Hicks," we said at the same time. 

"That's right. We call them false alarm contractions. They can be painful and uncomfortable, but they don't open the cervix or cause labor. Essentially, it's the body's response to activity, and will stop if the activity is discontinued. If she achieved orgasm during intercourse, the uterus would have contracted, which may be what set them off."

I could feel my face getting red. So it was my fault. I looked at my wife, who had finally managed to doze off despite her surroundings. I squeezed her hand gently. I promised myself no more temptation. I would prioritize her health and the baby's. I was embarrassed that Shizune had uncovered our intimacy, and ashamed that I hadn't held back despite our previous experiences with sex during her pregnancy, but I was refreshed by the new awareness that I had about Hinata's body and her needs. I cleared my throat, "So... there's no more risk."

"No, sir. So long as you avoid sex for the duration of the pregnancy, this shouldn't happen again." She scratched something down on the clipboard she still clung to. I gripped Hinata's hand, feeling dizzy with relief. 

"I can't thank you and your team enough, Shizune," I said, looking up at her. 

"No need to thank me, Lord Hokage." She dropped the clipboard into its place at the foot of the bed and left. Hinata opened her eyes when the door clicked shut. She blinked a few times, then her eyes found mine. 

"We're going to be okay, just like you promised," she whispered in a tired smile.

I folded her hand in both of mine. "I never go back on my word."


End file.
